


Come Back to Me

by Dragons_Heart



Series: Obikin Week 2k18 [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergent, Established Relationship, M/M, Mutual Pining, Obikin Week, Post Revenge of the Sith, Previous Relationship, Space Pirate!Obi-Wan, post mustafar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 11:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15363900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragons_Heart/pseuds/Dragons_Heart
Summary: Five years ago, Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side. Five years ago, he denounced himself and became Darth Vader. Five years ago, he nearly died. Now, Darth Vader is a powerful Lord of the Sith, unshakeable. With rebellion rising in the Outer Rim territories, he needs assistance from one pirate captain, and his oddly familiar first mate.





	Come Back to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Obikin Week Day 4!
> 
> Today's prompts are Scars and Different Path, so I've done a bit of a longer fic, featuring Vaderwan for a change.
> 
> Enjoy

“Lord Vader, I apologize for intruding, but—”

“This better be important, Admiral.” Darth Vader didn’t move, he didn’t need to. He could see Admiral Drak Minoc in the window over looking the lava rivers of Mustafar. Behind his expressionless mask, his eyes narrowed. He wasn’t in the mood for disruptions. He had been busy at work all day and was looking forward to a nice bacta bath. He’d been in his suit for too long. His mechanics were stiff, and his burn scars ached. His body was weary, as it usually became when his only reprieve from the cybernetics that kept him alive were brief stints in his meditation chamber. He wouldn’t show it, though. Even sore and tired, he was not weak, and he refused to appear as such. “Well?” he asked when Minoc didn’t respond.

Minoc swallowed nervously. “I only wished to inform you that we found an informant for the operations in the Outer Rim, my lord,” he said. His voice shook, and Vader smirked under his mask. Good, he should be afraid. “He claims he and his...colleagues are experts in the territories and the on-goings of political parties in power. Although, he did request we inform you he will not work for free. I told him, payment was not being discussed—”

“Are we in contact with him?”

“I…well…”

“Are we in contact, Admiral?” Vader wasn’t in the mood for dodging subjects.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll take the call in my chambers.”

“Actually, sir, he is en route to the system as we speak.”

Vader remained quiet for a moment. He could see Minoc resisting the urge to squirm in the reflection of the window. He did not usually accept sudden visitors at his home, his sanctuary. However, the need for scouts and monitoring of the Outer Rim was increasing. His master believed Jedi survivors and rebel traitors were seeking refuge in the territories and had instructed to Vader to root them out. It was a task of utmost importance.

“When will he arrive?” he finally asked, having waited just a few moments too long in order to make Minoc even more uncomfortable.

“Our estimates show within the hour, my lord.”

“I’ll meet them outside my meditation chambers.”

And with that the conversation was complete. Minoc bowed stiffly and exited the room, his back so tense it was obvious he wanted to run rather than walk. Which was fine with Vader. He wanted his men to have a healthy dose of fear.

He let out a deep sigh (or, as deep of a sigh as his suit would allow him to take) before turning from the window and making his way towards his meditation chamber. An hour in there would have to suffice to reenergize him for now. Although, he did make a mental note to have his caretaker double his next bacta session. Hopefully, he could relish in that once he’d met with this potential informant.

Once inside his meditation chamber, Vader relaxed. His helmet was removed, and he closed his eyes, breathing in the concentrated oxygen. It filled his lungs and he felt like he could truly breathe deeply. Sometimes he wished he could stay in this space where he could breathe and feel almost normal again. Even the scars on his face and head were numbed by the air surrounding him.

Unfortunately, the bliss was short-lived. He was pulled out of the meditative state he’d fallen into by his monitor beeping that company had arrived. One button click and his helmet was placed back on his head, another and the chamber opened. He stepped out, the concentrated oxygen spilling out as well and condensing, filling the room with fog. He saw Admiral Minoc first, but his eyes widened behind his mask when the fog dissipated and he could see the figures behind him.

“Lord Vader, allow me to introduce Captain Hondo Ohnaka and his…erm…second in command, Ben Kenobi,” Minoc stated. A part of Vader’s mind mentally scoffed. These men needed no introduction. He could recognize the pirate captain any day. As for his companion…

Force, Obi-Wan hadn’t aged since the last time he’d seen him.

“Leave us,” he ordered Minoc.

“Lord Vader, shouldn’t I—”

“That’s an order, Admiral.”

Minoc paled and bowed before scurrying from the room, the door sliding shut behind him. The three men watched him leave, silence persisting for a few moments.

“Well, shall we get down to business?” Hondo asked, the Weequay grinning and drumming his fingers together. “I hear you’re in need of my services. Of course, I won’t work for free, you see. I’ll require a handsome sum—”

“Hondo.” Obi-Wan spoke up, his eyes fixed on Vader, just as Vader’s gaze was fixed on him. Both men were tense, but not hostile. Vader, personally, was taken aback to see his old master before him. He’d vanished five years ago now, and Vader had wondered if he’d died. He hadn’t felt him in the Force for some time. Even now, he was hidden. But he was alive. And he was speaking with a pirate who had once held them captive as if he was an old friend.

“I know we’re here for business, but can I have a moment with our gracious host?” the red-haired man continued.

Hondo cocked his head to the side as if he was thinking, then shot up and clapped his hands together. “Oh, of course!” he said. “Because there was that thing you needed. We needed. He needed. Ah, whatever, I barely remember! But yes.” The Weequay clasped his hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder and the pair shared a look before he left. Vader had to wonder how much Hondo knew, how much Obi-Wan had shared, and what kind of plan the pirate had in place. Was he plotting a betrayal? An assassination? Or had they simply taken precautions to keep Obi-Wan safe?

The silence that hung between the two was heavy, almost suffocating. So much history existed between them, so much pain and betrayal and so many other things.

“Why are you here, Obi-Wan?” Vader finally asked.

“It’s Ben.”

“Not to me.”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “And yet, I doubt you would allow me to call you Anakin, now would you?” Vader’s silence was answer enough.

“Why are you here?” he eventually repeated.

The once Jedi master tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowing in confusion. A familiar expression that twisted what remained of Vader’s stomach. “You’re in need of scouts and our crew is in need of work. I would think that’s obvio—”

“No. Why are _you_ here?”

Obi-Wan’s brow relaxed and he lifted his head back up. “Ah. I see,” he said, almost half to himself. He rested his hand on his hip and Vader now noticed the blaster holstered there, just beside where his lightsaber was clipped. And for the first time, he took in Obi-Wan’s appearance. The man was gruffer than he remembered, his beard scruffier and his hair longer and less tame. His shirt was loose and open around his chest, something Vader found hard to believe. Obi-Wan used to be so chaste, his undershirt being a turtle neck during the days of the Jedi Order. Now, his former master looked nothing of the collected Jedi, not with his tattered jacket and a band tied around his head. Only his lightsaber and the old Jedi armor he wore on his shins and forearms suggested his past. Although, Vader couldn’t keep himself from wondering if the band helped keep Obi-Wan’s longer bangs from falling into his eyes.

“Do you ask why I’m a pirate or why I chose to come with Hondo knowing you’d be here?”

Vader didn’t respond. He wanted both answers. That should be obvious.

A moment passed and Obi-Wan sighed. The Jedi-turned-outlaw shook his head and looked towards the ground. “Really, so uncooperative…”

“I could kill you.”

Obi-Wan looked up and blinked. “But you won’t,” he said, folding his arms over his chest

“And how are you so sure?”

“Because you already would have if you were going to.”

“I could call the Emperor.”

“Then call him. We’ll be gone before he even arrives.”

Silence again. Vader’s breathing felt much louder in this moment, taking him back to how it had sounded after he was first put in his suit. Loud. Mechanical. Inorganic.

“You couldn’t know I wouldn’t,” he said.

“No, I didn’t know,” Obi-Wan admitted. “Not until I saw you.”

“Then why take the risk? Surely you know that you and every other surviving Jedi is a fugitive of the Empire.”

Obi-Wan’s composure broke. It was like he lost all the confidence he had been projecting. His shoulders slumped, his arms went from being folded to wrapping around himself. He looked sad and he couldn’t meet Vader’s eyes. “I had to know,” he said. “When I heard you were alive, I had to know what I had done to you.”

“And this is why you joined Hondo?”

“No, I was with him before that. I’ve been working with him for about three years now.”

“How?”

“We found each other in a cantina—Why does this matter?”

“I’m curious.”

“I didn’t come here to satisfy your curiosity, Anakin.”

“Vader.”

“Not to me.”

Under his mask, Vader rolled his eyes. ‘Stubborn, smartass fool,’ he thought. If he could have sighed, he would have.

“Come inside my meditation chamber,” he said. “But leave your weapons out here.”

Obi-Wan scoffed. “And leave myself vulnerable while you are armed? I don’t think so.”

Vader stared at him and wordlessly unclipped his saber from his belt, dropping it to the floor. He was offering up an equal playing field and Obi-Wan would be wise to take it. And, clearly, he was for the pirate did remove his own weapons after a moment of surprised hesitation. Vader didn’t thank him, just turned and motioned for Obi-Wan to follow him inside the ball that served as his safe space.

The pair entered, and the system closed as Vader sat in the chair. “It’s cold,” Obi-Wan said, wrapping his jacket tighter around himself and shivering.

“It’s the oxygen,” Vader stated as the mechanism to remove his helmet descended. “I can breathe easier in here.” His voice shifted from modulated to his own. He had almost forgotten what his real voice sounded like.

He spun his chair around to face Obi-Wan and, if he had any eyebrows left to raise, they would have jumped up then. The Jedi-turned-pirate was standing there with his hands over his mouth and his eyes and…was he crying? Vader had only seen his former master broken down to tears once before, just before he had left him to burn alive alone.

Obi-Wan staggered forward, reaching his hand out towards Vader’s face. Vader could have stopped him, but he allowed his former master to draw close and brush his fingers over his scarred skin. The elder man lightly touched his skin at first, then went in with his whole hand, holding Vader’s cheeks, rubbing the top of his head.

And then Obi-Wan let out a choked sob. He sank to his knees, his hands sliding from Vader’s face to his shoulders and chest.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped out. “Anakin, I’m so, so sorry.”

“I don’t forgive you.”

“I don’t expect you too.”

Vader looked down at the man kneeling before him. He could think of numerous times Obi-Wan had been in this position for better, more pleasurable circumstances. He could remember times when hiding away were moments of joy for them, of happiness and love. But those days were long past.

“Tell me why,” Vader said. “Why did you leave me?”

Obi-Wan sniffed and looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot. “I couldn’t watch you die.”

“You should have just killed me.”

“I couldn’t do that either.”

“Why?”

“Because I loved you. I still do.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have let me suffer.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “You don’t mean that,” he whispered. “I know you don’t. I was selfish, yes, and you have every right to be bitter. To…to hate me. But you don’t mean that.”

Vader scoffed. “You don’t know what my body feels like.”

“Then show me.”

That caught Vader off guard. Obi-Wan climbed up to his feet and leaned close to Vader, his hands resting on his shoulders. “Obi-Wan--”

“Let me feel it,” the pirate said. “I closed myself off from the Force when I left you. I’ll open back up and you can use—”

“You did _what_?” Now it was Vader’s turn to be shocked. No wonder he hadn’t sensed Obi-Wan before now. But why?

“I did what I had to,” Obi-Wan admitted. “The Emperor couldn’t find me and…I didn’t deserve the Force after what I did to you. I’ve regretted not saving you every day for five years.”

For the first time that day (and possibly in years) Vader’s eyes softened, and the gold faded away, revealing the blue his darkness had hidden away.

“Obi-Wan, I—”

“I don’t want pity, Anakin.” Obi-Wan looked away. “Force knows I don’t deserve it. Not after everything I’ve—Oof!!”

Obi-Wan winced, suddenly finding his chest smashed up against Vader’s. It didn’t feel good to suddenly be slammed into metal.

“You don’t deserve pity,” Vader agreed. “You deserve so much more than that.”

“Anakin—”

“Don’t speak.” Vader’s fingers came up, stroking and playing with Obi-Wan’s hair. How he wished he could feel it with his real fingers again. For now, he was more Anakin than Vader. He wasn’t sure if he enjoyed that, or if it frightened him. “I’m sorry, Obi-Wan. For all I’ve done to you.”

“You didn’t leave me to burn alive.”

“I betrayed you. I took away your life.”

“You did.”

More silence. So much time had passed, so much had changed, that the silence was too frequent and too awkward. Gone were the days of comfortable silence and communicating with a look.

“I still love you too.”

Obi-Wan looked up, eyes wide. He squirmed, and Vader released his hold, allowing the pirate to adjust from being awkwardly draped against him to sitting in his lap. Force, if any of Vader’s men could see him now…

“Do you mean that?” Obi-Wan asked.

Did he? There was definitely a part of him that hated Obi-Wan Kenobi and despised him for what he did, for being a Jedi, for not joining him. But…

“I do.”

They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, blue eyes staring into blue eyes. They were so close, but also so far away. And then Obi-Wan leaned in.

And he kissed him.

And Vader kissed him back.

Despite his scars, Vader could feel how soft and warm Obi-Wan still was. Despite the damage to his nostrils, he could still smell Obi-Wan, musky and like a forest, with the dirt and grit and booze smell of a pirate mixed in. Despite the state his body was in, he still pulled Obi-Wan close and wished he could pull him closer.

“I want you to stay,” he whispered.

Obi-Wan pulled back, his expression sad and troubled. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You know why.”

“Because of my master?”

Obi-Wan didn’t answer.

“I could protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting.”

“I could keep you a secret.”

“I am not hiding again,” Obi-Wan said, his eyes narrowing. “I hid for two years. I refused to do so again. And I will not leave my crew.”

“You’re more loyal to Hondo than me?”

“It’s not about loyalty.” The pirate sighed softly. “Hondo gave me a family and a home after I lost everything. He’s become like a brother to me. I won’t abandon him.”

“And you’d abandon me again?”

“You’re a Sith and a murderer. No amount of love will change that.”

“We could take down the Emperor you know,” Vader said. “Together it would be easy. A Sith and a Jedi together could—”

“I am _not_ a Jedi.”

Never in a million years did Vader ever think he would hear Obi-Wan Kenobi denounce his Jedi status.

“You are.”

“No.” Obi-Wan pushed himself off of Vader’s lap. He moved away, standing closer to the edge of the chamber. “I stopped being a Jedi the day I lost you.” He pressed his hand against the chamber wall. “Let me out. I’m sure Hondo wants to discuss terms and payment.”

Vader found his heart aching. He thought he was getting Obi-Wan back.

“Obi-Wan, please—”

“It’s Ben.”

Vader closed his eyes for a moment before spinning his chair around to face his controls. When he opened his eyes, he was glad he couldn’t see his own reflection. He didn’t want to see his own pain. Although he did feel a tear slide down his face.

“So this is goodbye then.”

“I’m sure you’ll see me again.” He could hear pain in Obi-Wan’s voice. “I am Hondo’s first mater after all. Besides, I do still love you. Knowing that’s returned…I can’t exactly stay away.”

Vader didn’t respond, but simply pressed down on the button to open the door. He heard Obi-Wan step out, and he closed the chamber behind him. Once he was alone, Vader pressed his hand to his face and he cried. He knew he didn’t have long, but he needed to unleash his emotions.

It was the first of many times Anakin regretted losing himself and becoming Darth Vader.


End file.
